Decent haul on the reading front this month.
The novel for September was one Ian R McLeod’s Wake Up And Dream, a book I’d bought almost a year ago, read (and loved) part of and then had to put down for non-reading reasons. I then waited for a suitable period of quietness that’d allow me to properly enjoy it. And waited, and waited. It was, of course, worth the wait. Part gumshoe noir (featuring former actor, Clark Gable as low grade private dick), part homage to the golden age of Hollywood, part SF commentary on the (ab)use of entertainment for political ends. A beautifully constructed book, replete with McLeod’s hallmark clarity of character, that takes a simple idea and unpacks it to a conclusion that is equally obvious and startling. As all the best SF does.
Adrift On The Sea Of Rains by Ian Sales was another book I picked up at a convention and had to wait for the right time to read. When I did, it was a pleasure to do so. This alternate historical of astronauts stranded on a NASA moon-base is replete with well researched terminology that adds a veneer of authenticity that’s rare in SF these days, and makes you glad the author thoughtfully provided a glossary to help you navigate all of the TLA’s that sprinkle the average astronaut’s vocabulary. Thoughtfully constructed with obvious love for the source material and wonderfully original.
Weirdly enough, the thing that spurred me to get back and read Wake Up And Dream was the Sunday Story Society’s choice of early September: The Merchant Of Shadows by Angela Carter. Both begin with visit to the home of a reclusive Hollywood figure, although their paths diverge after that. As always you can find out what I thought of the Carter story over on the Sunday Story Society’s discussion, and everyone’s welcome to read the stories and join in the discussion.
I also enjoyed Lynda Rucker’s Where Summer Dwells which has just appeared in the current issue of F&SF. A story of the magic of the friends and relationships you make young adulthood as seen from maturity. Hugely evocative in its American South setting, and beautifully told.
This year’s haul of books from Fantasycon was meagre to say the least, but I did purchase the new anthology release from Newcon Press. Hauntings is, kinda obviously, a collection of ghost stories, and on the trip home I found time to sample a few them. I enjoyed, editor, Ian Whates’s short contribution, Don’t Listen, the ghost story equivalent of an evil earworm, and Kim Lakin Smith’s atmospheric and totally original imagining of the mechanics of haunting, Dark Peak. But the standout of my sample reading was Simon Harries by Robert Shearman. A fab, funny, and superbly original take on the ghost story. Just loved it. Makes me even more determined to track down his award winning collection: Everyone’s Just So So Special.
All in all a great fiction month for me.
ayeahmur 
Mine has been less good. I was below par for the month:
Started The First Circle but I am STILL reading it. Which must be some sort of record for me. While I enjoy it if I sit down and do nothing else my big complaint is that for large tracts of the novel nothing, not one thing, happens…. but then brilliant stuff happens and I am blown away(literally my jaw drops) . Damn you Alexander Solzhenitsyn and your addictively compelling narrative of life under Stalin!
But I’ve also read Ministry of Space, 2 Judge Dredd and rogue trooper collections, a terrible SF novel (which I’ve actually forgotten the title of – it was that bad) and gotten around to Fatherland.
But then I am also prepping for a reading that’s landed in my lap and that took up the last wee bit of the month.
Not “nothing” is happening. People are being people. :d It’ll be worth it in the end, I’m sure.
Funny how indoctrinated we SF readers are to action though, isn’t it?
That’s kind of the point I was going for. I thought A Day in the Life … was great I’m just not getting the same vibe from this one. I read pretty widely as it is anyway.
Don’t get me, wrong when the book is awesome it’s properly awesome.
On the other hand you’re totally correct about being so used to action. And I suspect it’s one of the problems people who only read the genre have when they try and read something a bit different. (can o worms!)
Gosh, I need to randomly google myself more often. Thank you for this, Neil!
It was a pleasure reading it, Lynda.